Nolan Gorman

Drafted in the 1st round (19th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018 (signed for $3,231,700)

Gorman has some of the best raw power in the 2018 draft class--college or high school--and raised his stock significantly over the summer. Gorman won multiple home run derbies and showed that his power played against some of the top pitching prospects in the game at a few of the bigger showcases, displaying easy plus power against mid-90s velocity. He was the talk of the scouting community after putting on an offensive show during USA Baseball's 18U National Team trials in late August against multiple college teams in Minnesota. Gorman was unanimously voted to BA's Preseason High School All-America team at third base by major league scouting directors and had positioned himself to be one of the first hitters taken in the draft. However, his stock fell a bit this spring, when scouts noted that Gorman looked stiffer defensively, creating more reason to believe that he would eventually need to move to first base. Additionally, Gorman has added to the questions surrounding his hit tool rather than answer them, particularly at USA Baseball's National High School Invitational, where he swung and missed often against offspeed pitches and also expanded his strike zone. He was one of just four batters at the event to swing and miss at least 10 times. While Gorman has had little trouble squaring up big-time velocity, he now has some significant questions about his ability to handle breaking pitches, as he also struggled in that domain during the World Baseball Softball Confederation's U-18 World Cup in Thunder Bay, Canada, where he hit .222/.241/.294 with 10 strikeouts and four walks. Still, when Gorman hits the ball he hits it harder than almost anyone in the class. He had the highest average exit velocity at the NHSI at 102.1 mph, with an exit velocity a tick harder against breaking balls, specifically. Defensively, teams are likely split on his eventual destination. He has an above-average arm that's likely plus and he showed impressive glove work at the hot corner with Team USA, making plays on the run and while off-balance. However, the increased stiffness he showed this spring won't help encourage those who already believed he would eventually move to first. While his hit tool is more difficult to project now than teams would have liked, his power is 70-grade or better and that should still get him taken somewhere in the middle of the first round.